I was watching this and shuddering at the generic greetings they use like Under His Eye and Blessed Be the Fruit.

Of course, I started wondering what those greetings would be if Gillead was under Mormon control.

The only one I can think of really gives me the heebie jeebies. Good Morning, Sister Lillium. :-D

So, what would we be greeting each other with?

in b 4 ~ "how you doin' OPie ? " ~


https://youtu.be/YjQ1xD6UL-4

In the name of Jesus Christ

begun operating a database to track women the government labels as "breedready".

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/china-database-lists-breedready-status-of-18-million-women

It's not clear what the always opaque government plans to do with the database. But many suspect that they're considering policies to increase the birthrate, since the former "one child" policy set in motion a pendulum swing that is now expected to result in a rapid decline in the Chinese population.

Good point, WP. Let's not overlook the censorship, and--worst of all--the development of "social credit points." Already, people are denied access to schools, train and plane tickets, housing, jobs because of bad "social credit."

I read an article by a high-placed techie in Palo Alto. A Chinese coworker walked to work every day. He offered her a ride. She refused, explaining that her Fitbit is monitored in China, and she has to take a minimal number of steps each day to protect her Social Credit Score.

Google, Fakebook, and Apple are all too happy to cooperate with the ChiComs. Dividends and stock price, you know!

"ChiComs?'' There is nothing communist about China anymore.

The problem Beijing has is that the government rejected communism implicitly in 1978 and explicitly over the last couple decades. That left the state without a legitimizing ideology such that increasing wealth and rising living standards became the only claim to popular support. In short, the PRC is a naked dictatorship that must keep the economy growing rapidly.

Demographics are driving down the growth rate. Beijing (reasonably) fears that and is doing everything it can to keep the economy humming. Hence the focus on the birth rate and also a slight chance that China will seek a trade deal with Trump on something approaching his terms.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "ChiComs?'' There is nothing communist about
> China anymore.

I think I was feeling farcical when I threw the term into the post. Definitely dating myself.

I think the best term for China today is "mercantilism," with an increasingly fascist psychology.

Getting the thread on-topic, I see a rough similarity with LDS here, in that recent generations have moved way past the founders' world view and beliefs, but still, they must maintain a certain reverence for the origins, iconography, forebears, mottoes and slogans, sacred texts, etc.

What worked a few generations ago has become very burdensome and impractical. Now they look for ways to distance themselves without repudiating their history outright.

caffiend Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "ChiComs?''

> I think I was feeling farcical when I threw the
> term into the post. Definitely dating myself.

Yup. That's a term that is rarely used by the living.*


--------------
> I think the best term for China today is
> "mercantilism," with an increasingly fascist
> psychology.

Mercantilistic in effect but not in cause. With the demographic profile--tons of people in their high savings years, fewer young and profligate--the country is left with more capital than it can spend. So the money naturally flows abroad, where foreigners borrow it and buy Chinese goods. So you get a big current account surplus driven by domestic savings rather than government policy.

That is why people are wrong to accuse China of using mercantilism as a means of strengthening itself: the dynamic is one of weakness. The US deficits and Chinese surpluses are the result of interlocking weaknesses.


--------------
> Getting the thread on-topic, I see a rough
> similarity with LDS here, in that recent
> generations have moved way past the founders'
> world view and beliefs, but still, they must
> maintain a certain reverence for the origins,
> iconography, forebears, mottoes and slogans,
> sacred texts, etc.

Agreed to a certain extent. The government has not jettisoned the name of the party and the official titles, but that is about all that remains. Mormonism is far more conservative in that regard.

Interestingly, where I see the parallel is between the thought control and indoctrination of the 1950s and 1960s in China and the way Mormons rear their children even today. Group meetings where people are forced to feel guilt, confessions to authorities, etc: these are the attributes of a cult.


----------------
> What worked a few generations ago has become very
> burdensome and impractical. Now they look for ways
> to distance themselves without repudiating their
> history outright.

Of course, China's system didn't work in the 1950s and 1960s either. It managed to keep the populace quiescent (with the exception of the paroxysms of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution) but economically and politically little good was accomplished. Perhaps not unlike traditional Mormonism. . .




*An editor once said that of a word I employed: "rarely used by the living." I have never been able, nor wanted, to forget that quip.

There isn't much doubt that that is what's going on. China's demography is terrible: even worse than Japan's was 20 years ago.

They clearly want to focus on fertile women and find policies that encourage them to marry and procreate.

Have they thought about Mormonism?

Nothing better than climbing on a sinking ship!

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> They clearly want to focus on fertile women and
> find policies that encourage them to marry and
> procreate.

The one-child policy resulted in a high disproportion of males-to-females, as baby girls were the victims of culturally motivated abortion. The Law of Unintended/Obvious/Ignored Consequences. A large population of unattached young men can be problematic.

As I see it, Red China's prevailing norm of small families has two (at least) causes: 1) the power of the last 30 years' one-child indoctrination,and 2) Poor economies tend to induce large families; strong economies, the opposite. China's leadership wisely recognizes that their economy needs more workers.

Many European countries [notably Germany, France,even Sweden(!)] are attempting to augment their native-born birthrates.

Edit: Back in the one-child-only days, the government had fertility monitors, who checked young women's menstrual cycles, making sure that they weren't trying to sneak out a second baby. Penalties were certain and dreadful for couples who violated the policy without permission. Ah, fertility control! Ironic that "Handmaid's Tale" is depicted in a "Christian" society.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2019 03:27PM by caffiend.

I know China well but am unaware of fertility monitoring per se. China was a rural society during most of the one-child era, and local authorities definitely knew when families had more than one child and punished them with taxes, etc. Then the restriction was relaxed for farmers, since they needed people to till the fields, and the prohibition became more urban and suburban.

You are right about the economics. There is a very strong pattern that exists across national boundaries: two things cause fertility rates to decline: educating women and rising living standards. Improve both of those variables and birth rates fall. That is what is happening in white Europe and white America, with most of the population growth occurring among poorer and less educated immigrant groups. Japan indicates what happens if a country grows rich and strictly curtails immigration: growth stagnates, national debt increases, and people lose hope. You can plot GDP growth rates in the rich world according to how much immigration occurs. It's that simple.

What China did was to accelerate that process. The one-child policy reduced the birth rate to rich world standards long before the country became wealthy. The result is a rapidly decelerating economy and a lack of capital to care for the elderly. Where Japan went, China goes with much of the rich Anglo-European world following.

“Praise be to the man”. I love this show by the way. I dressed up as a Handmaid for Halloween with a tailor made costume and had the “wings”, the whole get up. Since it was cold I had the cloak they have over my dress. My friend was creeped out.

That is creepy. LOL

I love it too, but I can't binge watch it. Some of the shows hit me too hard. I have to stop and reconcile what happened in my own mind for a couple of weeks.

How about Shoulder to the Wheel.

Gird up your loins!

Hie to Kolob!

ENISH-GO-ON-DOSH

Heil [Prophet du jour]